


take my heart when you go

by perfect-porcelain (kathleenhasfeelsandwords)



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Gun Violence, Male Pepper Potts, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-05-27 17:00:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15029114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathleenhasfeelsandwords/pseuds/perfect-porcelain
Summary: Toni Stark is not your normal CEO. She's crass, outspoken, and not here for your antics. Pepper Potts is her loyal assistant who has been by her side for years. Toni doesn't know what she would do without Pepper in her life and she doesn't really want to find out despite the fact that she's on a warpath to to have the worst self-loathing of all time.





	1. Chapter One

_”Good morning ma’am. It is 8am pacific standard time and currently 81 degrees Fahrenheit. You have three appointments today starting at 9:30 am.”_

“JARVIS what the fuck.”

_”Mr. Potts asked me to wake you up to make sure you were on time for today’s appointments.”_

“I thought you listened to me, not Mr. Potts.”

_”I’m sorry ma’am, Mr. Potts used the manual override in order to make sure you were on time for today’s appointments.”_

“Yeah I’m sure he did.”

A bleary-eyed Toni Stark rolled over with an arm thrown across her eyes after being rudely awaked by her AI. Leave it to Pepper to find the one way around JARVIS’s protocol in order to wake her up in what was actually quite a good dream. Surrounded by hot men and silk only to hiss in pain with the bright light that was not streaming across her bedroom.

“JARVIS did Pepper happen to leave—”

_”Aspirin is on the bedside table along with a glass of water that Mr. Potts asked me to tell you to drink all of it before heading downstairs.”_

“Well at least he had the decency to do that.” Toni sighed loudly and laid in bed before getting the energy to sit up or at least scooch over to the end of the bed. She was about to finally move with the door swung open with a bang that made her wince and look over before wincing again. “I’m moving, I’m moving don’t get your boxers in a twist.” She grumbled and sat up way too fast and groaned.

“I said nothing.” Pepper Potts said at the doorway, face set in a neutral expression.

“I know that look, that look says that I should have been in bed instead of galivanting around LA last night.” Toni said before knocking back the aspirin and taking several big gulps of water that quenched her parched throat that she didn’t even know she had. 

“Again, I said nothing.” Pepper said mildly, looking down at his phone.

“Okay mom, I’m getting in the shower now, are you happy?” Toni rose from the bed that she really didn’t want to say goodbye to and made her way towards the bathroom.

“So happy I could jump up and down.” Pepper responded in a monotone voice, still looking at his phone.

“You know, your attitude is really astounding. Perhaps we should discuss that.” Toni said with a slightly amused look.

This caused Pepper to look up from his phone and he raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps we should discuss the fact that I had to type in a very long and extremely unnecessary string of numbers and letters into a tiny computer today in order to unlock your door and force JARVIS to wake you up so you didn’t cancel on your very important appointments yet again.”

“Ooo feisty I love it.” Toni grinned.

“A string and numbers and letters that you happened to post to your fridge that anyone that was in your house last night could have seen and hacked your server therefore rendering your AI obsolete and stranding you in your bedroom until I would have graciously called the fire department to unlock you from your own bedroom.” Pepper’s tone continuing to get sharper as he continued to talk.

“I’ve got a mini fridge, I’d be fine.” Toni shrugged.

Pepper sighed and looked up to the ceiling as if silently praying to the gods not to strangle Toni where she stood before turning his sights back on the woman who was wearing no pants and only a tank top that said MIT on it. “Just get in the shower and if you aren’t out in 10 minutes I _will_ tell JARVIS to cut the hot water.”

“You know you’re hot when you get all official.” Toni winked.

“Toni!” Pepper barked and Toni held up her hands in defeat before moving towards the bathroom. 

The water felt glorious against her skin and her thoughts wandered in a million different directions as she washed her hair. She must have lost track of time before she yelped in surprise when the water turned ice cold and she quickly jumped away from the stream and turned the water off and narrowed her eyes. Looks like Pepper wasn’t messing around today. Duly noted.

She stepped out of the shower and pulled on a robe before drying her hair in a towel turban on the top of her head. Pepper was waiting for her outside her room and she rolled her eyes. She may not have much modesty but Pepper was extremely careful when it came to giving her her privacy. 

“So who am I supposed to be meeting with today huh?” She called through the door. Clothes were already set out for her on the bed and she curled her lip in annoyance. Why did she have to wear a boring blazer with a skirt that looked like something a boring business woman would wear? She sighed as she pulled it on, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to leave the house otherwise and she had a plan of getting out of whatever meetings were scheduled anyways.

“You have a meeting with the shareholders at 9:30 which we cannot reschedule since this is the third time rescheduling and they are getting very antsy to move on the new weapons development plant.” 

“Ugh those old gasbags? Pass.”

“At 11 you have a lunch scheduled with a reporter from Time magazine. They want to do an article on female innovators for their International Woman’s Day issue.”

“I can manage that one. Especially if we are eating sushi. Are we eating sushi?”

“I can change the location to sushi if you wish.” Pepper sighed and she could picture him making notes in his phone. “You also have a meeting at 1 with Rhodey to talk with the Air Force guys that he’s training and do a weapon’s demonstration.”

“Well obviously I can’t cancel that one. I need to show those boys how we women work.” Toni grinned. She loved rubbing it in the Air Force guy’s face that she was eons smarter than Rhodey despite the fact that they were roommates in college and she basically owned him. She finished drying her hair and quickly put some makeup on her face and grabbed her heels by the door, swinging them from her fingers.

Pepper straightened as she walked out the door and frowned at her bun. “Hair up, Ms. Stark. We need to look professional at the shareholder’s meeting.”

“Pepper I swear to God if I have to put my hair in a bun I will literally gag and you do not want to see that when I’m this hungover. You’re lucky you didn’t have to carry me into the shower.”

Pepper opened his mouth before pausing and put his phone in his pocket before reaching out to pull her hair back. He twisted around her and produced a clip from God knows where and then moved back. He looked at her for a moment before nodding. “Suitable.” 

“Let’s get this torture session over with.” She grumbled.

\- - -

“I think I would make sweet sweet love to this burger.” Toni groaned audibly as she laid across the seat of the town car and took another giant bite.

“Glad you’re enjoying yourself.” Pepper commented while writing something on the legal pad in front of him.

“You sure you don’t want a bite?” Toni asked, shaking her burger at him.

Pepper looked up and gave a good effort of not showing the disgust on his face but not quite good enough. Toni snorted that turned into real laughter as she took another bite.

“You’re making me look bad Potts with your salads and your protein shakes.” She mused and Pepper shrugged while still focusing on his legal pad. “Aaaand you’re ignoring me.” Her face morphed into a pout and Pepper put down his pen for a second.

“I’m trying to get your schedule figured out for the next month so unless you want to lose out on millions of dollars you should probably let me focus.” Pepper raised an eyebrow.

“Only millions you say? Yeah, I could take a month off.” Toni nodded and stared at the trees passing past the window above her. “I mean did you hear those old gasbags today? Do they not realize that my inventions and patents over the past six months alone have raised the stock in this company to where it’s never been before and they have the audacity to mention my social life and how I need to project a better image? I literally paid for their vacation homes and I know for a fact that my father was never able to accomplish what this company has done since I took over, yet all they can see is that I’m a woman. They were talking down to me like I was a child and not someone who graduated from MIT at the age of 18.” She seethed and took another vicious bite of her burger. 

Pepper was silent but there was no longer the sound of the pen scratching across the pad. “I can cancel your appointments for the rest of the week if you would like ma’am.” He said softly.

Toni sighed and turned her head towards her assistant. “I’m just kidding Pepper.” She gave a little half smile and crumpled up the burger wrapper and shoved it in the bag. “Besides, I kinda enjoy getting heated in front of those old farts and showing who’s the smartest. Speaking of appointments what do we have on the agenda tomorrow?”

Pepper gave her a soft smile before opening up his calendar on his phone. “Just a speech at a local high school. Pretty easy day.” 

“Perfect.” Toni went back to looking up at the trees although if she was being honest she was staring right through them because she was not the best at speaking to kids. She could be brash and unrefined and she was a little afraid of making the wrong impression on their impressionable minds.

“We’re here ma’am.” Pepper said as the car slowed and Toni sat up. A dozen airplane hangers met her gaze and she gave a wry smile. Time to make Rhodey look bad. 

She walked in her annoying heels towards her best friend who was waiting for her with those annoying aviators that she was pretty sure that she had gotten for him for some occasion. 

“Stark, long time no see.” Rhodey called out and she grinned at him. 

“I would see you more often if you didn’t insist on working for the government James.” She arched an eyebrow at him and he laughed.

“Gotta pay the bills somehow.”

“I keep telling you to put your MIT brain to good use at Stark Industries.” She pursed her lips but she knew that Rhodey loved his job and she would never want to take that away from him.

“I don’t want to show you up, you know that. You got some gadgets to show me?”

“Of course you know that.” She laughed and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I love showing off the fact that you’re buying weapons from a tiny woman who’s smarter than you.” 

He snorted and nodded back to Pepper who had followed behind. “Good to see you Pepper. Let’s go this way, gotta introduce you to the guys before we start.”

The two chatted, catching up as they walked into one of the hangers where a group of guys and a handful of women were waiting for them. The second they saw Toni with Rhodey they instantly paid attention and a few looked a little too excited, something Toni was used to.

“Guys, Toni Stark.” Rhodey introduced her rather informally and Toni rolled her eyes.

“Pleasure gentleman and ladies.” She gave smirk to the group.

“She’s here to give us a little weapon’s demonstration and answer questions. Be cool.” Rhodey gave a serious face and Toni laughed before clapping her hands together.

“So who wants to have fun with guns and blow things up?” She asked and the entire group became way too excited.

She brought probably too many weapons out and grenades along with a few small rockets. She and the group including Rhodey started shooting up targets and blowing old machinery all while wearing a pencil skirt and heels. What a picture. Pepper on the other hand sat back with protective headphones and looked surly. Toni knew he was not the biggest fan of guns or other weapons but she was having the time of her life. 

After the weapon demonstration was over she got to hang out with the group and answered probably way too many questions but she loved these guys. She knew that the armed forces were never going to be for her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t respect the hell out of what these guys and girls were able to do. Of course she got quite a few selfies with them along with signing a few questionable objects and areas of the body before saying her goodbyes.

“Thanks for stopping by Toni.” Rhodey said again, giving her a hug goodbye.

“I love coming out here, you know that. If anything thank you for letting me come shoot some targets. We need to get together for dinner sometime soon.” She said as she slipped her sunglasses back on and turned to Pepper who nodded and shook Rhodey’s hand and they walked back to the car together.

“So I’m free the rest of the day right?” Toni asked Pepper as she slipped off her ridiculous heels. 

“Yes ma’am. Back to the house?” Pepper asked.

“God yes.” Toni groaned and laid back down on the seat of the car. 

She closed her eyes as the car began to move and let herself fall into a light sleep. She was exhausted both from dealing with annoying people and the fact that she didn’t get much sleep last night.

“Ma’am?” Pepper cleared his throat and Toni startled from the sudden sound.

“Yeah?” She asked, opening one eye.

“You might want to look at this.” Pepper said gently and handed a tablet to Toni. She reached out and grabbed it from him and found herself looking at video from CNN. She frowned and clicked play. It was a news report from what looked like Afghanistan or some other middle eastern country that was war torn. 

_”Reports are coming in from Afghanistan that a town was bombed not far from an American base.”_ The newswoman stated to the camera and shaky footage from what looked like a hand held camera showed the town being bombed and exploding. Toni’s eyes narrowed as she saw something that looked familiar. She went back and paused the video and her eyes widened and she looked up at Pepper who gave her a nod.

There on the screen was a missile that clearly said Stark Industries on the side before demolishing an entire building. 

_”It’s unclear that Stark Industries is not behind the attacks due to their weapons are being used as destructive forces in the war in the middle east. CEO Toni Stark has been known for selling her weapons to the US military but could the company be selling to other countries on the side? At this time we do not have a comment from Toni Stark or the company.”_ The newswoman continued and Toni turned it off in anger.

“There’s no way that those weapons were sold to them by us right?” She asked Pepper though she knew that he probably had no idea. She sighed and closed her eyes once more. “Guess I’m gonna have more to do today huh?”

“Uh yeah probably.” Pepper muttered.

“Brilliant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Obviously Pepper is quietly sassy while Toni is poking the bear. Let me know what you think!
> 
> tumblr: tedddylupin


	2. Chapter Two

“So I’m to believe that you had _no_ idea that these weapons were getting out to the terrorists?” Toni asked in a scarily calm voice.

“Ma’am, we have records of all of our sales, but once they reach our buyer’s hands we no longer keep track of them.” A man replied a little hesitantly. The entire board of trustees were sitting across from Toni looking either a little scared or bored.

“Don’t you think we probably should keep track of them?” She narrowed her eyes a little and said in a slow voice. 

“That would be unethical ma’am.” A different man spoke up and Toni’s steely eyes landed on him and he quickly seemed to shy away.

“I don’t care about ethics when it comes to weapons being put into the wrong hands, we need to keep a better track record.” She responded and leaned back in her chair. The room grew quiet as her mind was thinking things over before coming to a conclusion. She was in charge of this company and she knew that while this would probably set her back millions she knew what she had to do.

“Listen closely and listen good.” She said in a low voice as she leaned forward once again. “I am the major shareholder of Stark Industries. It is my name on these weapons that are killing innocent people so I’m making a decision that might make me more enemies but I don’t care. Stark Industries is ceasing all weapons development and we will no longer be selling weapons to anyone. Period.” She seethed.

It was silent for a moment before chaos reigned. All of the stuffy businessmen and a couple of businesswomen erupted into an uproar. All Toni did was sit back and take it. She didn’t care if this would mean that these people wouldn’t get their fourth vacation home or that new pool. This was about human life and that was more important than any money that she could ever make. 

“It’s been a pleasure as usual.” She said calmly as she rose from the table and walked toward the door without looking back. It wasn’t until she was in the car that she finally relaxed and let out a shaky laugh. “Well that was something wasn’t it?”

“It was the right thing to do.” Pepper replied and gave her a sympathetic smile. “I might have had to turn in my resignation if you had done anything differently.”

“Peps don’t even joke about that I don’t know what I would do without you.” Toni laughed. “You already called the production people right?”

“Done and done. But ma’am, what about the people that work at the plants? Won’t they be out of a job?” Pepper asked hesitantly.

“Please, I’ve been wanting to move into the energy industry for ages. I just never got around to it. I’ve got enough patents to keep those plants in business for the next century.” She scoffed with a little wave of her hand. Stock markets were a bit of a concern about keeping those plants alive but that was a worry for another day. “Now we’ve still got that high school speech right?”

“Yes ma’am. Jefferson High. I think they want you to talk about STEM and how it shaped your life.” Pepper frowned as he looked down at the memo on his tablet. 

Toni raised her eyebrows and gave a little smile. “Back in my day it was just called Man’s Club.” She chuckled as she looked out the window. Soon the high school was in her view and the car came to a stop.

“We really should have prepared a speech.” Pepper muttered as Happy came around to open the door.

“Oh please I can do speeches in my sleep and in fact I’m pretty sure I have.” Toni shrugged as she got out of the car and made her way up the steps of the high school. 

“You definitely have.” Pepper muttered again and Toni turned back with a laugh on her lips.

“Pepper have you watched me sleep?”

“JARVIS gives me updates if you start talking just in case it’s an emergency.” Pepper shrugs.

Toni’s eyes narrowed slightly and her lips formed into a pout. “Did I write that into his code?”

“Believe me, I wouldn’t. He updates me far too much. You really should see a sleep specialist.” 

“Hmm…oh well.” Toni gave a quick shrug of her shoulders. “Anything to make your life more difficult.” She grinned up at Pepper who grumbled slightly. “Oh come on you love me.” She poked him in the bicep which was sneakily bigger than the suit gave him credit for. Interesting.

“Ms. Stark?” A voice interrupted them and Toni looked up to the top of the stairs to find a teacher waiting for her.

“That’s me.” She smiled and climbed the last few steps.

“Thank you so much for coming to speak to the kids. It means a lot to them. I’m Principal Jones by the way.” The man gushed and stuck out of a hand. Toni took it quickly and shook it.

“It means a lot for me too. I like speaking to the younger generations, keeps me young.” She laughed and the principal chuckled as well. 

“Did your assistant let you know the topic?” 

“Of course! Pepper would never let me down.” Toni looked back at Pepper was standing a few feet away at a respectable distance. 

“Excellent. Now if you’ll just follow me.” The principal waved his hand and Toni followed obediently though she was getting a bit of a déjà vu moment from her own time at high school when she was a giant trouble maker. A quick flash back to the principal’s office made her smile in fondness though at the moment she was sure she was just annoyed that she wasn’t allowed to just make robots all day in the science labs though she had blown up a few in her day before moving onto MIT when she was 15. 

Soon she was backstage as the principal announced her to the crowd. She grabbed a microphone from the theater teacher who seemed a little too excited to be handing it to her. 

“And without further ado, Toni Stark!” The crowd went wild and she walked onto the stage. The theater was filled to the brim with high school students and her face lit up.

“Wow thank you for that warm welcome Jefferson High though I think you might need to check on that one guy in the front row. I think he’s frothing at the mouth.” She laughed along with the crowd. “So your principal told me to talk to you guys about STEM though that’s a new term for me. When I was younger they liked to call it the man’s club of the college degrees. I started getting interested in science and technology when I was very young thanks to my father. I think you guys have probably heard of him? I remember being in his office while he worked on all his different inventions. He’s the one that first gave me my first chemistry set though I ended up blowing up things that probably would have never been able to blow up yet somehow I managed to do it.” She shrugged.

The crowd watched her with interest and she had a feeling for a lot kids this was the first time they paid attention all week.

“I was encouraged to try new things and fail by teachers who are probably a lot like the teachers you have here. The key word there is fail though. In order to succeed you have to fail first, I don’t care what anyone tells you. I’ve failed at a lot of things. I think some of you remember that Stark app right?” She asked and she got a smattering of laughs in the crowd. “But the point is that I tried. Obviously Stark Industries is not destined to be a social media tycoon. You’re going to hear a lot of people out there telling you that you’re not good enough or that you’re too young to make change. If that was true then I wouldn’t have gone to MIT at the age of 15 making me the youngest woman to ever start and graduate. I let all those men telling me no that I deserved to be there. I showed all those young girls out there that you can be just as smart as they are and smarter.”

Toni took a breath and gave a little half smile. Memories were coming to her in quick flashes of those stuffy professors who saw a young girl and instantly wrote her off as stupid. Even when they saw her last name they assumed she got in with her daddy’s money. 

“For those of you out there that are interested in science or math or technology and….whatever that E stands for, you can make a difference. The future is here in this room. Oh wait engineering right? Yes engineering is important.” She said in a serious tone, pointing to the crowd who laughed. “I use engineering every day I don’t know why I couldn’t remember that. See, brand new to me.” She shrugged.

“I wish I had had someone to look up to when I was your age but I’m so glad that women are making strides in industries that used to be dominated by men. For those girls out there, be powerful in what you do even if it’s in the little things. For those men out there, raise each other up and don’t throw each other off the ledge. Stronger together is better than being individualistic and I mean it.” She raised an eyebrow, staring down the audience. “I would be nowhere without the people around me who decided they want to be my friend.” She looked over to the wings of the stage where Pepper stood and gave him a little smile.

When she looked back to the crowd and opened her mouth to speak again she heard a giant bang and the doors to the back of the theater burst open. She frowned in confusion but was quick to understand what was going on when gunshots rang up to the rafters. Her eyes widened. “Run!” She screamed and the kids scattered to the exits on the side. She dropped the microphone and began running back to the stage when her word exploded. A grenade blew up the stage in front of her and she was thrown back, away from Pepper who had started running toward her. She saw him being thrown back as well.

She was now on the aisle in front of the stage and thanked all the gods in the world that all the kids in the front rows had already escaped to the side exits. She staggered to her feet and saw that all of the children were gone from the theater and she let out a sigh of relief. 

“Pepper?!” She called out in a slightly manic voice and tried to make her way towards where she saw him being blown back but she staggered and her hands went to her front. Her hand came away bloody and for a moment she was confused and took a couple steps back and ran into a solid body. She tried to whirl around but the body grabbed her roughly and a black bag was slipped over her head.

“You’re coming with us Ms. Stark.” The accented voice said in a cruel tone that sent chills throughout her body.

“You didn’t kill or hurt anyone did you?” She asked in a small voice.

“What does it matter to you? You’ve already killed thousands.” The voice laughed and she could hear the smile that made that ice thicken in her heart. 

“What do you want with me?” She asked, her voice becoming faint as her head became lightheaded and her limited vision she got through the bad began to blur.

“Oh don’t worry. You’ll find out.” The voice hissed in her ear and with that she slumped in the arms of a foreign man instead of the arms of the man she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi so this is a little unusual for me to post another chapter so quickly because A. I'm currently in grad school and B. sometimes I lose muse and need to recharge because of my hectic grad school life. Basically don't expect a chapter this quick this often because life happens lol let me know what you thought of this chapter though!
> 
> tumblr: tedddylupin


	3. Chapter Three

Vincent Potts was not the type of man that looked like he was the assistant of the most powerful woman in the weapons business. He towered over her and while he was rather lean he had been lucky enough to grow up swimming and kept up the sport even when he was travelling the world with Toni Stark. His dad still gave him grief on the fact that he wasn’t living up to the potential of his accounting degree. 

He never mentioned to his dad that the reason he even had this job in the first place was because of his accounting degree. Working a temp job for Stark Industries had him behind one of the secretary desks while he was finishing up his degree. It was only because he found an accounting error that he even met Toni in the first place. His manager brushed him off and refused to take the error to Toni. He on the other hand knew that if this wasn’t remedied, the company would lose thousands and would be on the verge of messing up their taxes at the end of the year.

It was a normal morning at least as normal as it could be at Stark Industries when he found himself in front of the rather nice oak doors to Toni Stark’s office. Her secretary wasn’t in yet but the door was cracked so he slipped inside only to find Toni slumped at her desk snoring rather loudly. He winced and backed up slowly as to not disturb her when with a loud snort she jerked awake.

“Wha? Who are you?” She mumbled and squinted at him in the doorway. He knew he had a face of horror and embarrassment. 

“Uh, I’m Vincent Potts ma’am. Sorry to disturb you, I’ll come back later.” He said awkwardly and she frowned and then shook her head.

“Oh nonsense you woke up me up just in time actually since that good for nothing secretary hasn’t even shown her face yet. What can I do for you?” Toni asked with a yawn.

“I uh just wanted to show you an error in your numbers.” He said as he came forward towards her desk. He realized that she was wearing a dress that looked like it was just a piece of fabric that was held together by pure luck. He swallowed and handed her the paper. “I’m almost done with my accounting degree and when this came across my desk I noticed that the final numbers don’t line up and it would cost you thousands in the end if this went through.” He pointed to the circled numbers.

“Huh. Good catch.” Toni squinted at the sheet before rummaging around without even looking up and put glasses on her face before looking up at Vincent. “I think my contacts are in here somewhere but you know how those nights go.” She grinned with a gesture around the room and then to her dress and laughed. “Obviously I thought I could get some work done last night and instead just passed out.” 

“Uh…right.” Vincent rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“What was your name again?” Toni asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

“Vincent ma’am.”

“Hmm…I’m going to call you Pepper. All those freckles make it look like you had a chef with a heavy hand decide your face needed some more spice.” She chuckled and Vincent gave her a look of confusion. “What, don’t tell me you don’t have spice in your life. You woke up a CEO to show her wrong numbers with your job on the line if I was in a bad mood.” 

“I’m just a temp ma’am.” He answered but she did have a point. He hadn’t thought about losing his job.

“Only a temp huh? How would you like an official job? I could use a guy like you around since none of my other accountants caught that mistake.” Toni asked, leaning back in her chair and winced at the sudden movement. 

“I’m not finished with my degree yet ma’am.” He answered with a slight grimace. What was he doing fucking up his chance at getting a job at Stark Industries of all places?

“Details. Why don’t you take over as my secretary instead since you were already one?” She cocked her head expectantly.

“Are you sure? I mean I’ve only had this job for like five weeks. I don’t really know anything about being a secretary except what my manager tells me to do.”

“Well you’re here on time and you seem to care about doing a good job. That’s all that I really care about.” Toni gave him an encouraging smile.

“Okay yeah!” Vincent smiled and gave a tiny little hop in slight excitement because lord knew he needed the money. 

“Excellent. Now first job is to get me some aspirin and don’t let anyone in except my old secretary, so I can fire her.” Toni winced as she closed her eyes. 

And here he still was years later working for Toni despite him finishing his accounting degree and Toni’s offer of granting him an official accounting job. He found he actually enjoyed the job despite him basically cleaning up after Toni. He was good at it and he considered Toni his family. 

That’s why when he came to in the high school auditorium with Toni nowhere to be found, his heart broke in two. The last thing he remembered was being blown back as a bag was thrown over her head and she was grabbed by a practical giant and then darkness. 

“Pepper. Pepper are you okay?” He looked up as Happy’s hand shook his shoulder. His voice sounded far away with a slight ringing in his ears.

“Where is she?” He asked in a slightly slurred voice. His eyes searched the rubble of the stage and the empty auditorium. “Happy, where is she?!” His voice raised in a panic as he grabbed onto Happy’s shirt.

Happy’s face fell and he hung his head. “They took her. I came running in when I heard the explosion and the kids running out and by the time I got close a white van was tearing off and she was gone.”

Pepper sucked in a breath and he fell back on his elbow. She had been taken on his watch and he had been helpless to stop it. 

“We have to get her back Happy. We have to.” He said in a fierce tone and Happy’s hand squeezed his shoulder.

“We will.”

\------

Her eyes blinked hard against the harsh florescent light and she groaned, turning in what felt like a cheap cot but her movement was blocked by wires and tubes coming out of her.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.” A gruff voice stopped her in her tracks.

Her vision quickly cleared up and she saw the man who had taken her sitting across the room from her. Her eyes narrowed. “You. What have you done with me?” She hissed.

“You are in no position to act high and mighty Ms. Stark.” The man gave a wry smile and leaned back in his chair. 

She made to sit up but she felt a heaviness in her chest. She looked down and couldn’t help the gasp that came out of her. A glowing circle sat in between her two breasts and a wire kept her hooked up to what looked like a car battery next to her.

“A little present to remember us by when this is all over.” The man laughed.

“What is this?” She asked with a glare.

“That is what is keeping you alive. The blast tore shrapnel through your chest. That battery is making sure it doesn’t reach your heart.” The man shrugged. “We only really need you alive until we get our money and weapons. Our doctor was able to rig that up.”

“All this…for money?” She asked in shock that turned into anger. “You were willing to hurt children just for money?”

“And weapons. Don’t forget that part.” The man laughed and leaned forward. “And after that press conference it was a good thing we decided to do this now since it seems like your company won’t be able to provide that anymore.” 

“You know you won’t get away with this right?” She said with cold fury. “Your type of man never gets out of this alive.”

“Big words coming from a woman who’s got a car battery hooked up to her chest.” The man sneered. “Now you’re going to cooperate or my hand might just slip and knock off one of those wires.”

She stayed silent at that remark. She didn’t doubt that she truly did need the car battery to survive if she remembered the amount of blood that was on her hand before she passed out. She had to get out of this using her brain.

“My company won’t help you with the weapons. I stopped all domestic production and we don’t have any storage. Everything that was made was already shipped to different companies or the military.” She said and the man’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why would I lie about that when my life is literally in your hands.” She said in an annoyed voice with a slight roll of her eyes.

The man was silent for a moment, obviously thinking. “Alright fine. We won’t ask for weapons.” Toni let out a small sigh of relief. “Instead you’re going to make them for us.” 

Her eyes widened and she sat up straight. “What? How do you expect me to do that?”

“We have stores of chemicals and outdated weapons. You can use the materials from those to create a rocket or torpedo for us.” The man gave a little nod. 

Toni came to the realization that this man was exponentially more dangerous that she expected. He seemed smarter than he looked and she knew that she would have to agree to this if she wanted to get out of this alive or at least survive long enough for someone to find her. She had to made it look like she was reluctant to help him though, she didn’t want to seem too eager to get started because she wasn’t, but she could use the materials she would be provided to create a new chest piece. She already had a patent of an arc reactor that came to mind. She had to make herself not be reliant on this man’s hospitality.

“If I have to do this I’m going to need help. Bring me that doctor and then we’ll talk.” She had a feeling that a doctor with this much expertise and mechanical skill to create the chest piece she had now was not the type to go into terrorism. At least that’s what she was counting on.

“Excellent.” The man clapped his hands and stood up. “I have a feeling we will become good partners Ms. Stark.”

She gave him a small smile but under her gritted breath she breathed out “Don’t count on it.” 

She just hoped that there were people looking for her, otherwise she was doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh here come the similarities to the MCU! It is an origin story after all lol. Let me know what you think!
> 
> tumblr: tedddylupin


	4. Chapter Four

She wasn’t sure how long she had been trapped here. Being under the fluorescent lights 24/7 didn’t help and the fact that she only saw out a window when she was allowed to use the bathroom meant that the days and nights were all mixed around. She tried to ignore that and instead put all her focus into the miniaturized arc reactor that she had theorized a while back. 

She was grateful that the doctor she had commissioned to help her was on her side. She was just sad that he was in the same position as she. He had told her his story of coming to America illegally thanks to the men of this organization and instead of letting him go they kept him as their own. 

“I did countless surgeries in my days in my home country, but here it’s just patching bullet holes with second hand equipment that probably hasn’t been sterilized in ages but what do they care. As long as I fix them that’s all they care about.” He shrugged as he held the shell of the arc reactor steady for Toni.

“I promise you Yinsen that I’m going to get both of us out of here.” She said in a low voice as she welded a few wires together.

“You know you’re known as the killer in my country but now I realized it’s men like these that are the true killers.” Yinsen said softly and Toni paused her work and let out a sad sigh.

“I know. Believe me I had no idea, but my company will never make weapons like those again.” She whispered and Yinsen reached out to give her shoulder a squeeze.

“I know.”

And so the two of them worked in sync to complete the arc reactor but also to begin the shell of the metal suit that she planned on using to break out of this horrible place. She had used the defunct weapons she was provided to create the shell with Yinsen’s help. 

“I think we’re still in California.” She said one night over their meal of beans and bread, something she vowed never to eat again once she was released.

“What makes you think that?” Yinsen asked as he took a bite.

“Their accents are close to Los Angeles accents and their slang that they’ve been using is similar to gang members in the California areas. Besides I’ve heard them call the highways The 10. Only Californians call highways with ‘the’ in front of it.” She said matter of factly. 

“Seems reasonable. I met these people in Los Angeles but I was transferred to some place outside of the city.” Yinsen nodded and Toni’s brow furrowed. If they were out in the Mojave desert which seems likely due to the fact that it would be the best place to hide someone, she would have to gather supplies other than weapons.

Her days were spent working with Yinsen on the shell, creating weapons, and attempting not to go insane. She was grateful for Yinsen who told the best stories and she felt comfortable with him. She told him about her crazy lifestyle that looking at it now seemed pointless. Sure she had enough money for many lifetimes and she knew hundreds of people but who could she count on? She could count on one hand the people that she truly knew and trusted.

She didn’t want to admit that when she was staring at the ceiling on her shitty cot that she was thinking about Pepper. He knew everything about her and she knew just a bit about him yet she could count on him for everything. 

She missed his calming presence and his attitude he could have when she was being a little too extra. 

She missed his laugh and smile and his genuineness.

She missed those freckles that got him his namesake that bled into the rest of his life.

The first thing she would do when she got out would find Pepper and give him the biggest hug. 

But first she had to get out.

It was the day. She could hardly force down her breakfast (toast with nothing on it). She looked over on Yinsen who seemed just as nervous as she did. She knew it had to be today. The leader was getting anxious to have his weapons.

“Are you ready for this?” Yinsen asked softly.

“Are you?”

“I’m behind you always.”

“Good. I’m going to need you.” Toni whispered.

They decided on dinner time. The men by then would be tired and ready to get off their shift and have their guards down. It would be the perfect time to strike and if they were in fact in the desert, it would be easy to blend into the darkness and it would much cooler than in the heat of the day.

They pretended to work on something with welding sparks going up on the cameras so it looked like they were doing something more than just welding to pieces of metal together as the time ticked down. As it got closer, Toni got in the camera’s blind spot as Yinsen helped her into the suit.

Like clockwork the guards came in with food but instead of greeting them sitting innocently at the table they got a flamethrower in their face. With screams, the two went down and in the smoke Toni stood with a giant metal shell around her, the arc reactor glowing an unnatural blue in her chest.

“Stay behind me Yinsen.” She said, her voice muffled. Yinsen nodded with a cock of the gun that the guard had left behind.

They smashed through the door and found the hallway empty but not for long. Soon other men came out of the rooms looking either confused or angry depending on if they came from the camera room. 

“Evening gentlemen.” She said grimly and began shooting and running the flamethrower. Men went down with either a scream or an expanse of silence. Yinsen shot over her shoulder or under her arm as they progressed down the hall. Men were falling back or fighting with fury in their eyes. 

They do say you never know how you’re going to react to something unless you’re in the thick of it. Toni never saw herself killing someone in direct combat. She left that to the soldiers who made the choice to fight. She always figured she would be too squeamish to take a life or perhaps too empathetic. Instead she found herself being complacent and filled with regretful determination. Her life over theirs. That’s how it had to be. 

Soon they made it out of the deadly hallway and she wasn’t about to look back. With a fierce kick, she made her way out of the building to find more men. With more bullets flying, she took off at a run though with the amount of metal that was surrounding her body, it was more of a jog.

“You doing okay back there Yinsen?” She yelled.

“Doing just fine!” He yelled back as he took down another man.

“We’re going to run into the desert and hope for the best.”

“Desert is all around us, that’s the only way to go.” Yinsen said with a wry look.

In the middle of a firefight and he was still cracking jokes. She took out more men that she could count. There were too many of them. She had to get them out of here.

“Yinsen hold onto me!” She yelled and without a doubt he launched himself onto her back and with gritted teeth she started the reserve flame throwers and they were lifted off the ground with a jolt. She had little control but enough flame that it started a fire. It helped that she managed to light the gas canisters that were laying around. The idiots deserved what came next as Toni and Yinsen made it away from the giant explosion and into the heart of the desert.

When the flames began to die out which ended up being only a few minutes later, they were far enough away to see the giant wall of flames that they had left behind. 

It was not a graceful landing and instead more of a tumble that left Toni breathless as the metal did nothing to soften the blow. After several painful rolls she finally came to a stop with the metal shell a mangled mess around her. She laid there for a second before letting out a rather hysterical laugh. 

“We’re alive.” She breathed and sat up, taking off the metal helmet and looked for Yinsen who was laughing as well. “Was that not awesome or what?”

“Truly spectacular.” Yinsen grinned happily and sat up.

“Let’s get out of here.” 

They got up and Yinsen looked up at the stars and directed them towards the way they should walk to get back to civilization. 

“My father taught me how to read the stars. I grew up in a desert similar to this. I remember going out at night and staring up at the stars. My father said he had gotten lost several times and used the stars to find his way back.” Yinsen explained as they started their trek.

“All my father taught me was how not to show love to a child and that money is more important than family.” Toni said rather bitterly.

“I’m sure that’s not true.” Yinsen comforted.

“Tell that to all the unattended awards ceremonies and disappointed looks. He wanted a boy and instead got me. Even me getting into the MIT at 15 meant nothing to him it seemed.” She sighed in annoyance. “He’s been gone years and he can still haunt me even when I created a metal machine that got the two of us out of prison basically and I know all he would say would be ‘should have done it sooner’.” She laughed and shook her head. “You probably don’t want to hear this.”

“I’m sure my daughter feels the same way.” Yinsen said after a while. “I left her and her mother behind in order to send money back to them and bring them over but instead they haven’t heard from me in two years.”

“But you will. I will make sure you see your wife and daughter as soon as we get back.” Toni said and reached out to take his hand and give it a squeeze.

“I appreciate that Toni.” Yinsen said with warmth in his eyes. “And you father did love you. Why else would he push you so hard and still let you choose your own path?”

Toni was silent at that. Her father would always be a sore subject. He would always be this all-powerful figure that would hover over her life both past and present. She knew she would never be free of his presence, especially since she would never get a proper goodbye. She would only have their last fight to remember and replay in her head. 

Even in the desert he would be right beside her.

They continued to walk in silence, passing the water bottle that Yinsen was able to procure before they broke out. As dawn broke, their eyes winced against the light.

“Is that what I think it is?” Yinsen asked.

“It is.” Toni said breathlessly and their pace picked up as they saw a group of buildings up ahead that turned into houses.

They made it to the first one and they knocked on the door. A man answered, half dressed and bleary eyed.

“Hello sir, I’m To—” She started when the man’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit you’re Toni Stark!”

“Er yes. Do you have a phone I could use?” She asked.

“Of course of course, come in.” He ushered the two of them inside and Toni thanked him graciously before calling the number she knew by heart.

“Hello?” The man’s voice answered in slight annoyance.

“Pepper.” She breathed in relief.

“Toni?! What? How? Where are you?” Pepper’s voice became a mixture of elatedness and concern.

“Um I’m not sure. I just got to this man’s house.” She looked to the man who quickly gave her his address. She relayed it to Pepper.

“Don’t you dare move Toni I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Pepper ordered fiercely.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She said softly.

The man’s wife had woken up in this time and made both her and Yinsen breakfast. The couple was incredibly accommodating though a little overenthusiastic. Toni answered a few questions but really was so exhausted she almost fell as sleep at the breakfast table. 

It was the sound of helicopter blades that woke her up and without even turning to Yinsen or the couple, she was out the door. Pepper, Rhodey and Happy were exiting the helicopter and she took a running start at the group. 

She practically launched herself into Pepper’s arms who instantly wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Peps.” She said into his chest that smelled like him despite the fact she was sure this was the closest they had ever been since their meeting.

“I was so worried.” Pepper said into her ear as the helicopter’s blades slowed.

“I want to go home.” She said as tears sprung to her eyes. She was not a crier but being surrounded by people she loved after being isolated from humanity besides Yinsen had her feeling incredibly vulnerable.

“We will I promise.” He squeezed her tightly again before releasing her and checking her for signs of injuries. She was sure she was bleeding and bruised in multiple places but she didn’t feel it. She looked over to Rhodey and Happy who looked at her in relief. She reached out for them as well and gave them each hugs before hearing a little cough behind her.

“Oh, right. Guys this is Yinsen and I wouldn’t be alive today without him. He’s coming with us.” She said and gestured to the man behind her. 

“Of course.” Pepper nodded and with a quick thank you to the couple who owned the house, they all got on the helicopter back to Los Angeles.

Toni refused to let go of Pepper the entire ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> doesn't it just want to make you hug something squishy so hard? ugh love the fluff. also of course i wasn't going to kill off yinsen. fuck iron man 1 for doing that tbh. let me know what you think!
> 
> tumblr: tedddylupin


	5. Chapter 5

Pepper was worried. He would never admit it of course, especially not to Toni herself, but he was worried. 

It had been a month since her miraculous return and she refused to speak more than a couple of words about it. He knew that it had obviously been a traumatic experience, something he couldn’t even begin to understand, but she played it off like everything was fine. That she was back to normal and working on getting her company back on its feet after the news of the stopping of weapons manufacturing and her sudden disappearance.

He knew that she was not back to normal.

JARVIS was sending him alerts constantly during the night of her screaming herself awake and when she did so, he watched the cameras the next morning to find that she had spent the rest of the night tinkering in her shop. 

He wished he could do something about it but he knew that if he even brought up the idea that she wasn’t okay he would get his head chewed off and she would bottle herself up inside.

The rest of her friends didn’t seem to find anything the matter with her. They were just thankful that she was back and not too harmed in the process. She had suffered some burns and a few cuts from her escape or her time in the kidnapper’s nest, but she refused to say how she had escaped.

Pepper had seen to it that Yinsen had his family brought over to the United States and that they were living happily together in a small house, but he had also refused to discuss what had happened. Whenever he had asked the man all he got was a sympathetic look. 

“I promised her I wouldn’t say.” He had said softly though he had explained how he had gotten to the group in the first place and some of his time during their capture of him, but nothing after Toni had gotten there. “She just needs time. She’ll come around, especially with you.” Yinsen gave him a soft smile. “She told me all about you.” And the things left unsaid made Pepper blush. He could fill in the blanks though he wished he hadn’t.

Now Pepper was watching Toni sit hunched over at one of her stations, welding something tiny by the looks of it. She had kept her position for the 10 minutes Pepper had just watched, not even noticing that he was at the windows. He sighed and punched in the key code. 

“I brought you some lunch.” He called out as he made his way over to her.

“Thanks, you can leave it on the bench.” She said, without looking up, too focused on her project.

Pepper stood for a moment and very nearly just sat the meal down but then he straightened with resolve. “No, you need to eat this now.” He said in a strict voice that reminded him of his own mother.

Toni frowned but she still didn’t look up. “I’ll eat when I’m done with this.” She replied.

Pepper narrowed his eyes and walked right in front of her and set down the place with a loud clatter. “No, you’ll eat now.” He practically hissed.

Toni looked up in astonishment, pushing up her safety glasses. “My, my, Pepper. So forceful.” She said with a wry smile and leaned back in her chair. “Did Happy get your bonnet in a twist?”

Pepper glared at her. “This isn’t a joking matter Toni. You haven’t eaten practically anything in a month and you’re always down here tinkering with something when you should be interacting with the outside world. I know you think these robots are your friends but newsflash, they can’t talk back.” 

“JARVIS talks to me.” Toni sniffed in a mock hurt voice.

_”I talk whenever Ms. Stark needs me.”_ JARVIS piped up and Pepper sucked in a deep breath in annoyance and looked up at the ceiling.

“There, see? JARVIS talks to me.” Toni chuckled and patted the monitor in front of her like she was patting a small dog. 

“Why don’t you go see Rhodey? I bet he would love to see you.” Pepper suggested and Toni’s face twisted into annoyance.

“I don’t want to see Rhodey. He’s busy anyways.” Toni shrugged.

Pepper sighed. “I’m worried about you Toni. You aren’t sleeping and when you do sleep you’re waking yourself up with nightmares. You’re always messing with something down here and not seeing your friends. I’ve had to cancel your calendar for the last week and next week. It’s not healthy.”

Toni’s eyes narrowed. “I understand the concern Mr. Potts, but I’m fine.” She said in a stiff voice before nodded to the plate of food. “Now thank you for the food, but I need to get back to work.” 

Pepper sighed, knowing that it was a lost cause and he gave a little nod. “You know where I’ll be.” He said rather sadly and excused himself out. 

He wished he could say how he really felt and force Toni to discuss her fears, but he knew that for now at least, it was a lost cause.

\-----

_”Breaking News: An unknown object was seen flying over Saudi Arabia this morning. Sources from the Air Force report that after multiple explosions in a small town, they were alerted to the flying object. One jet was taken down and the other lost the object during the explosion. The pilot of the jet has been found unharmed. Pictures taken by the jets show a large haul of rockets being destroyed by some sort of metal man that is also being assumed to be the unknown object. There is no other information at this time.”_

Toni winced as she walked to the couch in front of the TV but her wince didn’t last long as she listened to the report. She could still hear Rhodey’s voice in her head.

“Toni Stark you are one crazy motherfucker.”

She laughed at the thought but the laugh made her wince again. She definitely needed to reinforce that chest plate. She had a feeling that at least one rib was broken and others were bruised. She looked at the quick medical scan she had taken of herself and didn’t find anything too detrimental but she would need to bandage it tight before going to bed.

She wasn’t sure how she would go to bed after that experience though. She laughed again at the sheer audacity of the situation.

After many test runs around the LA area, she had decided it was time to test it out in true Stark form: by winging it and hoping for the best. And the best it had become.

Besides the whole Air Force getting involved and getting shot by a rocket midair and taking down one of those really expensive jets, but other than that it had been a successful run and now a village would be safe from missiles with her last name on it.

She sighed as she realized that she was going to have to have Pepper wrap her ribs for her. She reluctantly rang for him and he was down in a moment.

“You rang?” He asked as he stepped inside the shop.

“Yeah can you wrap my ribs for me?” She asked nonchalantly wondering if that would work for not getting him to ask questions.

“You want me to do what?” He asked in both accusation and confusion.

Figures it wouldn’t work.

“Just grab some Ace bandages and wrap my ribs for me.” She said, not giving any other information.

“Only if you tell me why.”

“Because one of my lower ribs is broken and some are bruised, that’s why.”

“And you don’t want to bother giving me an explanation, is that right?”

“Nope.”

Pepper crossed his arms and stood there, waiting. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Okay I fell down weird after trying to fix Dummy over there.” She shrugged then winced as the movement sent sharp pains through her side. Pepper’s resolved seemed to vanish as he saw the pain on her face.

He brought over the bandages that she kept in emergency kit and raised up her shirt. He hesitated before closing his eyes for a moment and opening them. “Um, I think you’re going to have to everything off ma’am.” He said awkwardly with a flush appearing on his face.

Toni felt a grin form and she chuckled softly. She had never been very self-conscious, especially when it came to her body and being naked. She hadn’t been naked in front of Pepper before, at least as far as she knew, but the embarrassment on his face made her fell a little self-conscious as she stripped her loose shirt and paused a moment before taking her bra off as well. Thank god she wasn’t wearing a sports bra, otherwise it would have been even more of an awkward and painful maneuver.

“Well, get on with it.” She said, making Pepper move again. She felt his warm fingers against her skin and it brought goosebumps. She shivered slightly and realized she hadn’t been touched like this in a while, and especially not by Pepper. 

She watched his face of concentration as he wrapped the bandage around her body, trying hard not to brush against her breasts as much as he could. 

“How does that feel?” He asked.

“Better.” She breathed softly, the edge of her personality softened by his touch. “Thank you.” 

He looked up into her eyes and looked like he wanted to say something but changed his mind at the last minute. He straightened and cleared his throat. “Is there anything else I can help you with Ms. Stark?”

Toni gave him a soft smile and shook her head. “No Pepper. Thank you.” She repeated and reached over for her shirt and pulled it on over her head. When her head popped out again, Pepper was gone and she was left feeling like she had imagined the entire thing but the bandage’s tightness told her otherwise.

This was going to be bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well I guess I'm somewhat back? Felt some random muse so here's a chapter for ya. Let me know what you think!


End file.
